ATP St. Petersburg: Daniil Medvedev marches on. Gerasimov tops Berrettini
The US Open finalist and the top seed in St. Petersburg Daniil Medvedev is through to the fifth straight semi-final, defeating the fellow Russian Andrey Rublev 6-4, 7-5 in an hour and 41 minutes for the 22nd win in the last 25 matches! Rublev fought better than in Cincinnati a month ago but it wasn't enough at least for a set, dropping almost half of the points on serve to get broken five times from 13 chances offered to Daniil. On the other hand, Medvedev lost serve three times and came from behind in both sets to seal the deal in straight sets despite not playing at his best. Andrey converted the third break chance in the fourth game to forge the lead following a forehand error from Daniil, staying in front only for a couple of minutes and getting broken in the very next game to keep Medvedev in contention. World no. 4 delivered three easy holds after that and grabbed a break at 4-4 thanks to a massive forehand error from Rublev, closing the opener with four winners in game ten for a 6-4.
Andrey squandered numerous game chances at 2-2 in set number two, netting an easy backhand to lose serve and push Medvedev closer to the finish line. Out of sudden, Daniil lost focus in the next game to suffer a break, falling 5-3 down after another poor service game and offering Rublev a chance to notch the set on own serve. Instead of that, Daniil broke back with a volley winner in the very last moment, gathering the momentum and moving in front with another break in game 11 before landing four winners in the next game that propelled him over the top. A qualifier Egor Gerasimov is through to the first ATP semi-final following a 7-6, 7-6 victory over the 3rd seed and one of the ATP Finals contender Matteo Berrettini in an hour and 55 minutes.
They fended off all nine break chances to set two tie breaks and the Belarusian had the advantage in both, playing better in the closing stages of the second set when he missed those six break opportunities, staying calm and bringing it home with a strong performance in the tie break to advance into the last four. The 4th seed Borna Coric had to dig deep for the second day in a row, ousting the 8th seed Casper Ruud 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 in two hours and four minutes, trailing a set and a break before performing a comeback that sent him over the top. Ruud was 6-3, 3-2 in front but won only eight points on the return by the end of the match, getting broken in games six and 12 in set number two and once again in the decider where Borna claimed four of the last five games to book the place in the semis for the first time in three months. Former finalist Joao Sousa is also through to the semi-final, defeating Mikhail Kukushkin 7-6, 6-2 in an hour and 48 minutes, taking a tight opening set and dominating in the second to seal the deal in straight sets.
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2OaPOpb
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